1. Objectifs

Intentions :
Dans ce chapitre, l’auteur étudie le comportement marital des Filles du Roi en Nouvelle-France au XVIIe siècle.

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’auteur utilise des sources premières, notamment des registres sur les Filles du Roi et des certificats de mariage de l’époque.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

«This study of the first marriages of the women known as the filles du roi, who arrived in the New World between 1663 and 1673, shows that their marriage practices diverged in a number of ways from nuptial behaviour observed throughout the seventeenth century, both in France and in New France. […] The intense intermixing that characterized these marriages is inextricably tied to the sexual imbalance in the colony and the related atmosphere of urgency that accompanied the arrival of the women. The short interval between their arrival in Canada and the religious ceremony, and the frequency of dispensation from banns point to the precipitous nature of these marriages. The fact that spouses were chosen in haste highlights the state of expectancy of the male population […] and the women’s apparent acceptance of their mission as future wives. On the other hand, lacking both kinship ties in the colony and experience in a frontier-type situation, it would have been difficult for most of these women to survive for long without a spouse. The large number of cancelled marriage contracts suggests that they could take some advantage from their situation and not necessarily accept just any partner. […] The filles du roi were clearly instrumental in establishing a more equal balance of sexes in the marriageable population of mid- to late seventeenth-century New France.» (p. 28-29)